Karen Perry round up: What happens when you let messed up people into your life

A little bit of background📃

I'm a huge fan of Karen Perry, the Dublin-based writing duo of Paul Perry and Karen Gillece. Their books are complex stories of human failings, full of clever plot twists, and tragic outcomes for those who allow messed up people to infiltrate their lives. I love compelling reads that keep me guessing as the story unfolds, exploring the consequences of ordinary and believable yet compelling characters. Most of Karen Perry's novels have a similar theme and format: ordinary people's lives interrupted by the entry into their world of an unexpected person who changes things irrevocably, revealing the bleak and rather disturbing side of human nature.

There are two books published in 2014 that I haven't yet read. This post contains my review of the seven that I have read to date. The first book I read by the duo was Stranger, published in 2021. Then I started on their back catalogue, reading five of the books, published between 2015 and 2019. The final review in this post is their latest at the time of writing, published in 2023.

Stranger | Published May 2021 | Read January 2022

The story📖

Stranger (also titled The guest) follows the story of a Dublin family who host a French exchange student for a few weeks. The watchful and provocative student creates a huge impact on the family, largely because the terrible things that lie beneath the surface of their outwardly perfect existence are revealed.

My thoughts on the book💭

I liked the way it was clear from the beginning that one of the characters has died tragically, but the reader is kept guessing until near the end as to this person's identity, who killed them, and why. The ending is shocking but believable, and I loved being part of the breadcrumb trail to get there.

I've read other reviews where people commented on how unlikeable the characters are in this book, creating a lack of investment in the outcome. I agree that the characters are imperfect. I also concede it was a struggle at times to care about their awful behaviour, but the story was all the more interesting for it.

In sum📝

I couldn't put Stranger down. After an horrific event is hinted at early in the novel, I kept reading to find out how the family unravelled. Stranger is Karen Perry's assured storytelling at its best.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Come a little closer (2019)

The story📖

Leah is the protagonist in Come a little closer. She's in a relationship with Jake, but feels lonely in their new basement flat as Jake has to divide his attention between Leah and his ex-wife and young son. Enter Anton, Leah's upstairs neighbour, lending a sympathetic ear when Jake is absent. Anton has moved back to the street after a long absence, yet the other neighbours seems hostile towards him. What Leah doesn't know is that Anton was accused of killing his wife 19 years earlier. Eerily, Leah bears a striking resemblance to the murdered woman.

My thoughts on the book💭

Karen Perry make a gripping, tense story out of a basic premise, told from three points of view: Leah, Anton, and Hilary, one half of a couple who live across the street who once lived in Jake and Leah's basement flat. The story takes the reader deeply into the small community where Jake and Leah live. The atmosphere is thick with the intensity of close-quarters living and Anton's menacing personality. The characters are all well fleshed out, even if not all likeable, as things tend to be in Karen Perry novels. The ending is surprising, but it is a little rushed.

In sum📝

The story takes the reader on a chilling journey to the final reveal. I kept wavering about Anton's guilt so props to Karen Perry for their storytelling. The book is another slow drip feed of the story's details, but the complex, multi-layered narrative had me eagerly turning each page.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Your closest friend (2018)

The story📖

Your closest friend has an intriguing premise: Cara is out in London one evening and finds herself caught up in a lone gunman's rampage. She takes shelter with Amy, and in the hours they are hunkered down in the dark, Cara shares her most intimate secrets with her new companion, assuming she'll never see Amy again. A short time later, Cara starts to receive creepy text messages from someone claiming to be her closest friend who knows all her secrets. Amy then suddenly reappears in her life and seems to be the one friend Cara can count on as things spiral out of control.

My thoughts on the book💭

There's lots of suspense through the story, and the fear and panic that Cara experiences is palpable. Amy's chapters are compelling, clearly showing her disintegrating state of mind, even though it is clear that she is pretty messed up from the get go. The reading journey is tense, and I was desperately hoping that Cara would figure everything out before it became too late.

It sometimes feel a bit odd to be commenting on plausibility when reviewing books of the thriller genre as they all rely on some suspension of disbelief to work. Your closest friend is a fascinating, disturbing tale, but it is also far-fetched. Cara makes some questionable decisions and her actions were, strangely, less believable than Amy's, who is clearly mentally ill. There was also room for more exploration of Amy's obsession to flesh out the narrative.

In sum📝

This book is classic Karen Perry, exploring the obsessive behaviour of messed up strangers infiltrating people's lives. The story is less about working its way to the end and revealing the perpetrator, and more a chilling ride through Amy's obsession. The reader is continually asked to consider what is real and what is fantasy.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Can you keep a secret? (2017)

The story📖

Can you keep a secret? is a departure in premise from the other Karen Perry novels I have read, but still has ordinary people with terrible secrets at its core. The book centres on a reunion at Thornbury Hall, now up for sale, where a group of friends reunite after twenty years. Lindsey, the main protagonist, hasn't spoken to Rachael in all that time, not since her brother's 18th birthday at the Hall owned by Rachael's family that shattered the friendship group and left Rachael's father dead.

My thoughts on the book💭

The book is a slow-burn character study of all the players in the friendship group, told from Lindsey's perspective, both in the past and present. As the two timelines converge, secrets are revealed. I like stories like this, where there are a bunch of characters to get to know and a past story that slowly lets the reader into the secret. As one would expect, not all the characters are likeable, family and friendship dynamics are messed up, lies and betrayals abound, and there's a storm brewing as the book moves to its conclusion.

The old-friends-reunite-shocking-aftermath plot device has been done many times before in thrillers. I found Can you keep a secret? a compelling read but it doesn't offer anything new from the formula.

In sum📝

Karen Perry ramp up the creepiness vibe in Can you keep a secret? The menacing air of Thornbury Hall and the collision of the past and present were enough to hold my attention, even though I know the book treads a well-worn path in the thriller genre.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Girl unknown (2016)

The story📖

The book opens with first-year student, Zoe Barry, entering Professor David Connolly's office, claiming to be his daughter. This simple premise sets off a chain of chilling events as Zoe insinuates herself into the life of David and his family.

My thoughts on the book💭

This is a tense, tightly-wound thriller, in a similar vein to Your closest friend. Zoe's presence takes David back to a time when he was in love with Zoe's mother and to his present marriage difficulties. His now wife, Caroline, doesn't trust Zoe, and she is right not to! Caroline can see what David cannot, and the story takes the reader on a journey of their alternating points of view. The book navigates the consequences of actions in the past and present, allowing for Karen Perry to explore what happens when we try to rewrite our personal histories. Similar to Your closest friend, David and Caroline make some questionable decisions and the story stretches believability in terms of their naivete and emotional immaturity.

In sum📝

Girl unknown is another classic Karen Perry: a messed up person entangled in others' lives with dark consequences. I felt uneasy the whole way through. Even though the ending is somewhat ambiguous, the journey to get there is dark and compelling.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Only we know (2015)

The story📖

Only we know is another dual timeline story. The past story takes place in 1982, on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Kenya. Luke and Nick and their friend, Katie, are playing at a river near their cottage, even though Luke and Nick's mother does not think it is safe. As one would expect in a book of this nature, their game ends in tragedy. Now, thirty years later, the three are estranged, yet still bound together by the dark truth of what happened at the river that day. Luke suddenly vanishes and as the threatening messages begin, it seems that someone else knows what they did and is intent on seeking justice and retribution, at any cost.

My thoughts on the book💭

This is one of my favourites by Karen Perry. The Kenyan setting and the set up for the reveal were super interesting and I kept reading, wondering where the authors would take the story. I felt that the storytelling and characterisation are stronger in this one than their other novels. The books explores choices, consequences, guilt, and secrets and lies.

I do agree with other reviewers' comments that the Kenyan setting is underdone, and something of a wasted opportunity. It feels like the country was chosen at random, without much thought or research into it as a setting. I like the setting to play a pivotal role in the story, but that is not the case in Only we know.

In sum📝

The story is well-crafted and compelling, with strong characterisation and a fascinating journey to its conclusion. The book is less of a thriller and more a story of what happens when the time comes to pay for the consequences of past actions. That said, the authors' exploration of tragic events, guilt and consequences creates a thought-provoking story

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

OK, so now to Karen Perry's 2023 book. I've noticed a common theme recently with the writers who have been staples in my reading diet for years. I have found several of my beloved (and usually reliable) authors have produced less-than-stellar stories in their latest offerings. I'm not sure if it is the effect of the pandemic publications, or that they are just running out of steam. Whatever it is, it has hit Karen Perry's writing with a hammer. The worst thing you ever did? If I was being nasty, I'd say it was writing this book!

The worst thing you ever did | Published October 2023 | Read March 2024

The story📖

The worst thing you ever did has a promising premise. Faye and her husband Ed are making a life for themselves in Ireland after returning from a stint of working in London. Faye is the subject of the 'worst thing', something the reader isn't fully privy to until some way through the book. This thing involves her university boyfriend, Michael, with whom she is stranded in rural Spain after the ash cloud from the Iceland volcanic eruption in 2010 grounds all flights. The book jumps between the events of 2010 and the present day, after Michael re-enters Faye life. Ed is clueless as to the past relationship between his wife and his new buddy after Michael befriends Ed as part of his plan to insinuate himself into Faye's world.

My thoughts on the book💭

The story is written well, as is usual for Karen Perry, and I kept at it, keen to find out about the 'worst thing'. That's pretty much it for what I liked about The worst thing you ever did . The pacing is uneven despite the quality of the writing, and I couldn't get on board with any of the characters. The story kicks into gear in the last third but by then it has moved into over-the-top territory, and that's not how Karen Perry roll. The authors usually write captivating psychological thrillers about ordinary people doing bad things. Their books don't tend to stray into overwrought territory. The psychological angle in their novels is usually well-explored and believable, without a bonkers ending.

I kept at it, hoping the book would get better and would redeem itself when it revealed The Worst Thing. That said, leaving readers hanging about that 'thing' can be frustrating. It's not my favourite plot device. It's clear that Michael is up to something but this is not revealed until later in the book. Also frustrating.

I'm assuming the authors' intent was to explore loss and the impact of tragic events on one's mental health. The trouble is, I couldn't connect with the character in the novel with mental health issues, and that's not usual for me. That character needed to be drawn better, I think. There isn't anyone to root for in the novel, either, so I found myself uncharacteristically unmoved by the emotional side of the story.

The worst thing you ever did 

The 'worst thing' is believable, once it's finally explained. However, the turn the book takes in the final act is not what I was expecting. More than that, it didn't resonate with me. I couldn't get on board with Faye and Michael's actions. Their lack of character development didn't help matters. There are also several unanswered questions by the end of the novel. So...my least favourite of the Karen Perry novels to date, but I'll still look out for their next book.

Rating: ⭐⭐